Rebirth
by CompassJimbo
Summary: One-shots and short stories set in Sheo Darren's 'Sister Iku' universe. When women remember being ships and there's a war to fight, strange things can happen.


Arianna Kidd always welcomed hearing the air raid sirens fall silent. No planes, no danger of dying. She also got a break from dealing with the mass of humanity in the shelters. Said mass consisted mostly of soldiers and sailors who couldn't reach their posts in time. God knows at least one person had tried to cop a feel this time. Bastard.

Her pen pal had her hole up here, at a naval base called 'Yokosuka', right on the fucking front lines. Arianna didn't quite understand why the military let her stay here. They should have laughed her ass out and sent her to a hotel or a refugee camp. Instead they kept her as a 'Civilian Morale Assistant' whose job was to help with various situations that had arisen as a result of the… unique nature of this war.

It turned out that old warships were somehow alive. And because of her pen pal, Arianna also knew that the souls of those warships had reincarnated into numerous young girls and women, though she was ordered to keep her mouth shut about it lest people panic and entire religions collapse.

She knew some of the names of those reborn warships: _Akagi, Nagato, West Virginia, Hornet_ , and a few others. But not names like _Mutsu, Shoukaku, New Mexico, Yuudachi,_ or _Myoukou._

She could see some of those 'ship-girls' making their way onto the shore, dismissing their 'Rigging'. Some had torn clothes, the result of damage during battle; how they weren't missing limbs was a mystery.

Remembering her 'job' and her pen pal, Arianna dashed over to them. "Anyone need help!?" she hollered.

A hand rose up, marked by a distinctive and familiar detached sleeve which was now full of holes.

"I could use a hand," groaned Kira Iwabuchi, her pen pal and now the battleship Kirishima. "Normally my sisters would be fussing over me, but Kongou-onee-sama and Hiei are out on a convoy run and Haruna's already in the docks."

"It's fine, Kira," Arianna said with a shrug before slinging Kira's uninjured arm around her shoulders to support her friend on the way to the repair dock.

In all honesty, she'd rather not have to deal with her pen pal's sisters. Kira's twin sister Haruna was the sweetest and most gentle thing on Earth. But she was easily caught up in the antics of her older and far more boisterous siblings Kongou and Hiei. Those two were _beyond_ insane. And frankly, the former was likely to be dragged into Court Martial alongside her CO. There was a damned running bet on when they would wreck a room...

Kira's breaths were heavy, and her bespectacled eyes were squinted shut. "Thank you." She groaned. "Damn, according to my calculations, I'm going to be out for a while…"

Arianna sent a reassuring look towards her friend. "Just take it easy," she said as calmly as possibly. "I'm guessing you want a spot next to Haruna?"

A chuckle came from Kira. "You know us Kongou sisters well..."

"I was there when she found you, after all, for that promise."

Arianna could never forget the high-pitched, booming voice, screaming for her 'Kirishima-chan'. The other two followed shortly, and for what seemed like an eternity, the American was cut off from the best friend whom she had been exchanging letters and emails with since that assignment back in grade school.

And then she experienced their insanity firsthand.

Tea was something Arianna didn't mind. But she vastly preferred coffee, preferably from Dunkin' Donuts, thankfully a presence on this base. A constant, hour-long stream of black tea was something that grated on her nerves and her taste buds.

"The four of us, sailing together into eternity," mused Kira before she let out another groan of pain. "Ugh, why did it have to be the shaft gallery?"

There was a sizable hole in Kira's right boot. Thankfully her foot looked untouched. That was the way battle damage showed on ship-girls. Their clothes took the damage for them most of the time.

"So what happened?" Arianna asked.

Kira took a deep breath. "Torpedo bombers. They didn't have many SAMs and our own flak needs upgraded. Fortunately, us Kongou sisters are to be given better AA guns once they figure out how to replace our Type-Ninety-Six mounts," she reported.

A red eyebrow shot up quizzically. "I'm guessing those are bad?" Arianna asked.

"Two thousand yards, even though I told my gunners to open up from further. They're still used to the ammunition shortages from the last war," her friend complained.

Arianna still didn't get it, so all she could do was scratch her head.

"Two thousand yards is when torpedo bombers usually release their payloads," Kira informed her.

"Oh."

"Akizuki and one of her sisters was present, but they had other issues, especially when an attack wave went for Akagi and Kaga. Thankfully the few enemy bombers who got through them missed."

Arianna knew that 'Akizuki' was synonymous with 'Air Defence' in the dictionary that the Japanese fleet used. The WWII ones boasted rather large numbers of AA guns while the current iteration bristled with many advanced SAMs. One of the newer Akizuki ships was still around, a survivor of the earlier battles with the enemy before the Ship-Girls woke up. And apparently the Japanese had ordered new ships of that class to make up for earlier losses. How they would actually be built was anyone's guess, given the state of the shipyards in Japan.

She and Kira soon reached the Ship-Girl Docks, which wasn't far from the shore. A nondescript brick and stucco building, it hid a massive bathhouse that somehow fixed up Ship-Girls by the simple act of the damaged girls stripping down and taking a dip in the pools. Thankfully it was well-guarded from those who desired to peek on those within.

Arianna would admit that many of the Ship-Girls were cute or even gorgeous. Her own pen pal Kira was quite good-looking in an intellectual tomboy way. But they didn't need horny sailors bothering them while they tried to heal up.

Someone inside the Docks was keeping an eye out for them. The double doors swung open to admit Arianna, Kira and the other girls inside the lobby, where they were welcomed by the pink-haired form of Akashi.

"You should have come and gotten me, Arianna-san!" The repair ship was wide-eyed and shouting, no doubt knowing that Kira's seemingly innocuous clothing damage was rather serious for a Ship-Girl.

"It's fine, Akashi," Kira groaned as the pinkette took over towing duty from Arianna. "Just glad I found a tow."

The former nurse began fussing over the writer-turned-battleship, with fairies beginning to patch her up. "Goodness, what happened to you!?"

"Torpedo bombers. One got through. Couldn't evade," Kira grunted through gritted teeth.

A sigh came from Akashi. "Right. Let's get you out of this and into the docks," she recommended.

"Should I get you something?" Arianna asked her pen pal.

Kira let out another pained groan. "My tablet would be nice…" She requested, eyes squinting. "There was something on there that I was writing before the sirens sounded, and I should probably take the chance to pick up where I…" Another pained groan. "…left off…"

Arianna squeezed her friend's shoulder. "I'll be back shortly," she promised before dashing back out of the docks and towards the Dormitories.

Her pen pal shared her room with all three of her sister-ships. While the Kongou sisters didn't mind guests, they were rather adamant about people stopping in while they were away. With one exception made by Kongou: Her precious 'Teitoku' leaving a love letter, or something to that effect.

That woman's obsession with having sex with her commanding officer would be the end of her, Arianna worried.

Fortunately, the other women-turned-battleships in the Ship-Girl Dormitory didn't mind visitors, even if there were only a relative handful whose names Arianna remembered either from class years ago or thanks to her history-obsessed cousin back home.

After pocketing the spare key she'd just used, Arianna quietly made her way into the room and closed the door behind her. Not a single light was on, but the sunlight filtering through the windowpane provided enough illumination for her purposes.

The Kongou sisters' room was rather cozy and well-decorated. Bold but neutral colors, a Union Jack blanket hanging off of a repurposed metal ladder (Arianna suspected it came from one of their... wrecks), a fine china tea set that actually sparkled, and so much more.

Taking a deep breath, Arianna padded over to the bedroom. Four futons (color-coordinated with the skirts of their owners) formed a ring around the kotatsu, which Arianna would admit was comfy as hell. Kira's laptop and tablet both sat atop a desk, alongside a heart-framed picture of Kongou desperately trying to kiss an annoyed Admiral whatshisname. The last caused her to shake her head as she grabbed the tablet alongside the charger, an external battery pack, and…

…what was this? "The hell is a 'Dess Note'?"

Probably belonged to Kongou. Best not touch it, lest she incur the wrath of the woman.

This place was rather nice, Arianna admitted to herself while giving the room one last look before she left. All she got to herself was a barebones room empty of color and life.

Admiral whatshisface had told her that she would be transferred to another room that she would share with one of the battleship girls. Either Pennsylvania, who oversaw the small squadron of American 'Ship-Girls' assigned to this base, or another Japanese battleship, whose sister had yet to be found.

Satisfied, Arianna exited the room quietly, electronics in hand. Nobody seemed to notice her as she departed the room, which suited her fine. The last thing she wanted was for an irate stranger to start questioning why she had come out of the Kongou Sisters' quarters.

Upon her return to the Ship-Girl Docks, she was cleared to go into the actual repair docks. Before doing so, she exchanged her shoes for a pair of special skidproof sandals, a requirement given the conditions of the space she was about to enter.

The repair docks themselves were private rooms that contained a glorified hot tub or four laced with some substance or magic spell or something that worked to fix those who took a dip. Puddles lingered upon the tile floor (hence the sandals) and steam hung heavy in the air, which was filled with the scent of something… sweet? Minty? Vaguely like the Vicks cream her mother rubbed on Arianna's chest every time she caught a cold when she was young.

She glanced at the sliding doors, which either read 'Vacant' or 'Occupied' in large, friendly letters. In the latter case, it also identified the occupant of the room.

"Let's see… Honolulu… Jintsuu… Vacant… Ashigara… here we are," Arianna muttered to herself before knocking on the door in question. Hopefully they were decent...

" _Who is it_?"

That she recognized to be the soft voice of Haruna, which was not unlike that of her three sisters.

"It's Arianna," she replied.

She could hear Kira say something in Japanese. Arianna's own grasp of the language was tenuous at best. Ironic, considering that she had known the woman for a decade.

" _Come in_ ," came Kira's muffled reply.

Taking a deep breath, Arianna grabbed the handle and slid the door open, keeping her eyes away from the occupants to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Even if she meant nothing untoward by doing so, seeing other people without clothes on just came off as wrong. Indeed, her face heated up the moment she heard Kira and Haruna giggling at her

"Umm, I have your stuff, obviously," she opened up.

"I can see that," Kira chuckled. "You can turn around, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure you two are kind of…" Arianna took a deep, flustered breath. "…naked."

"Haruna doesn't mind," the other woman chimed in.

"There's no night battles planned, Arianna," Kira added with a small laugh. "You can dip your feet in if you want, by the way."

Arianna palmed her face. "I think I'll be fine," she replied, causing the two sisters to giggle again.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to turn, placing Kira's stuff right next to their owner while doing her damndest not to gaze upon her pen pal's bare figure.

"So, Kira…" She scratched her head. "Is this stuff waterproof?"

"I bought special cases for that, yes," Kira reassured her. "Also, do you wish to see what I'm writing?"

"Sure…" Arianna rolled up her pant legs before she stepped out of her sandals. Once seated upon the tiled floor, she slowly dipped her feet into the green-tinted waters. "Ooohhhh…"

Soaking in the inviting waters reminded her of the times she enjoyed a hot tub, only this was much more relaxing. No wonder why the Ship-Girls stopped by this place even when they weren't hurt.

God, she was now forgetting something. But what? But who cared, because dear god, she could feel the knots in her ankles just melt.

"This is _really_ warm," Arianna sighed happily.

"Few can resist~" teased Kira before she began tapping away at the screen of her tablet. "Anyway, I was working on a romance novel. A woman fell in love with someone only for another person to sweep her off her feet. Torn between her two suitors, she desperately searches her soul on a journey across the northern reaches of America, from the scorching plains to the bitter cold mountains..."

"I live in Montana, you know?" Arianna pointed out. "If the plains are hot, so are the mountains."

Kira pouted at her critic. "Let me have my moment…"

A smirk spread across the redhead's face. "You know I can't do that~." Something about the premise seemed off, though. "Wait... Are you writing me into a lesbian relationship?"

A massive blush spread like wildfire across the pale plain of Kira's face.

"N-No!" she stammered. "I-I-I mean, you do make a brief a-appearance, b-but… oh dear…"

"Haruna is not alright," muttered Kira's twin sister, whose identical face was just as flustered.

"Oh God, the look on your face!" Arianna couldn't help but laugh her head off. Her friend had actually gone and turned her into a character of one of her stories, even if her literary equivalent was restricted to a bit role.

Kira's breathing slowed, in part thanks to pressing her hand against her chest. "It was… based off of my own life, actually," she hastily explained. "Did you read up on my own history?"

Arianna frowned. "Not really. Like, I know it's out there, but I figured that you'd rather keep it private or whatever."

Kira's green eyes stared into Arianna's brown pair. "That's quite considerate of you," the Japanese girl thanked her American friend. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm guessing this has something to do with what happened before?"

Arianna was vaguely aware that Kira's previous life had ended with her ship self slipping beneath the waves, those still aboard howling and screaming in terror before the cold waters guided them into death's embrace. Her friend's sigh confirmed it.

"It was late Nineteen-Forty-Two. Accompanied by several cruisers and destroyers, I entered the Solomon Sea to bombard the airfield your country called 'Henderson'. We had hoped to render it inoperable and pave the way for our forces to drive the Marines out," Kira recalled.

"Unfortunately, they didn't leave their forces unguarded. We ran into a force of American cruisers and even battleships, newer ones at that. One of them, South Dakota, wasn't firing her primary batteries for some reason, and so I began laying into her. I'm sure any other ship would have taken advantage of it as well."

Oh God, did she sink that ship?

"So, did you-" Arianna started to ask.

"She refused to die, not that I seem to remember caring," Kira remembered. "But I loved it. I enjoyed how I utterly dominated South Dakota... until she came...

"I was so focused on South Dakota that I didn't even see the other woman until her super-heavy shells began punching right into me. That woman proceeded to ravish me, just as I had been ravishing South Dakota. I didn't last long against her and soon joined my big sister Hiei in Ironbottom Sound…"

There was something nostalgic in her pen pal's tone, rather odd for someone who died so violently.

"I'm guessing you want to meet her?" Arianna posed.

"I couldn't help but feel some kind of connection in my dying moments," Kira murmured. "Like our fates were set to intertwine from the moments our hulls were laid down…"

How strange. Arianna had never believed in the concept of fate, considering it to be little more than the stuff of myths and fairy tales. And yet life itself had turned on its head. Maybe there were forces beyond her understanding or control, manipulating everyone like puppets in a play.

A hum escaped her mouth as she thought about it. "Maybe it was?" She suggested with a shrug. An answer she never expected to give.

"Perhaps…" sighed Kira, as silence only broken by dripping water filled the room.

[=]

Author's Notes:

So, I've decided that I may as well have something semi-serious under my belt, especially considering that I haven't done anything serious in some time. Regardless, this'll probably be a once in a blue moon kind of project.

As to why Arianna refers to Kirishima by her human name and Haruna as Haruna, I've taken something from Halo (or maybe it was one of its fanfics), where SPARTAN IIs will only give you their name if they trust you enough (or if you rank high enough to know anyway). It's the same with Ship-Girls. They've embraced their identity as warships more-or-less fully, in many cases, but will only allow you to learn their human names and call them such if you know them well enough, or if you knew them before they Awakened.

Regardless, this is a sidestory in itself to Sheo Darren's Sister Iku, in which I-19 became a nun because it's funny. I figured that it was an interesting universe to explore and flesh out, and I do so with his blessing (and edits, which I'm thankful for). Originally I planned for this to be a narrative, but I feel it'll work better as a series of short stories. We'll see where it goes.


End file.
